Secret Ingredients
by lamyka
Summary: Creations gone awry aren't the only thing on this planet, but when your idea of midnight snacks are Xeno's that's not necessarily such a bad thing. (prequel to The Greater Game)
1. Fast Food

Disclaimer: don't own aliens, predator, etc. except the obvious characters created by me and the voices in my head :P j/k R&R if u like or feel u'd like to beat me in disgust :P

**Chapter 1:**

She had just been another failed experiment, just another byproduct of scientific greed. She knew exactly _what_ she was; deep down she reached into her memories—or more specifically her genetic memory. Head and eyes rolling back she let the memories of countless generations flood over her not even noticing the rain steadily getting worse. The storm above her head never truly abated as the planet she was on, been abandoned on anyways, was filled with water drenching storms. The humid forests surrounded her in every direction, and within those deeps were other abandoned subjects. Dark and sleek shapes moved all around her. She watched with eyes too keen for a human as they ran along to do the bidding of their Queen. One stopped, turning its head to face directly at her. She just stared it down knowing full well that if it were stupid enough to try and kill her she would easily take it down. Most of the hive knew her presence and gave her a wide birth. She smelt like one of their own and if she took down a few drones here and there they didn't take any notice.

She was hungry. Shaking her wet hair she baited the xeno to approach her, hopefully her dinner would come to her and she wouldn't need to run it down. Though she was the lion to this gazelle it gave her very rare pleasure to have to run miles upon miles just for a meal. In the beginning when they all gained their freedom she had run and run like never before. But not before she had tore through the soft flesh of the humans that had put her in those cages for all of her waking life. Poked and prodded her, starved her, hurt her and finally tried to kill her. They had made her. And she, like the dog beaten one too many times, had taken her revenge in their hour of need. Siding with the xenos, who welcomed her as just another drone, she had killed until no one was left except those the hive had taken for host flesh. The scientists had taken the three known intelligent races: Human, Predator, and Xenomorph, making her the best of all three species. If that wasn't enough they had woven into her genetic make-up the most deadliest of species of animals native to Earth as well as other planets. Tall and sleek, bones hollow like a bird's; yes she was the perfect counter to the xeno infection. She was able to track them without even trying and even had the same acidic blood. Her carnivorous nature, her brute strength, and hunter abilities, revealed the Predator in her. Her sentience and overall mental and physical attributes were close to that of a human.

It seems she would have to chase tonight and work for her dinner as the xeno slowly began to return to it's duties elsewhere. Crouching forward on all fours like some giant wildcat she sprung upon the unsuspecting xenomorph, making it squeal in surprise. Turning around confused it bared its teeth. She dug her talons into the wet ground and let out a deafening bird-like screech. Pouncing forward she wrestled the creature to the ground, each giving each other scratches and screams of fury. Finally she stopped wasting her time and with one thrust of her palm up on its chin tore the head clean of the body. The rest of the body hit the mud with a loud thud. Hungrily she tore at its flesh eating until nothing but a shell was left. Dripping with xenomorph blood, she let the heavy rain wash away all trace of her meal. Letting herself stand to her full height of around 7 and half feet, she stretched. Cracking her neck she let her face once again face towards the sky. Night would be over soon, and though she had nothing to fear in this forest she knew it would be a good idea to get some rest. As it was only she and the xenos on this planet—she had a plethora of time and a virtual supermarket full of fresh xeno flesh constantly expanding. She let herself smile, her fangs showing briefly in the growing light of false dawn. At least the scientists hadn't left her to starve.

She jumped from branch to branch silently like a breeze off the leaves, just as quickly come and gone. Finally reaching the dry cave she called home, she lay down, watching the light of the sun touch everything in the dense forest. She almost let her eyes close when she heard a familiar sound. A ship. She let a snort escape her lips, must be another Predator looking for a good time. Getting up she watched it arch in the sky, and land not too far. Clicking her claws upon the stone she noticed the rain had stopped. Tensing her leg muscles she jump 30 feet straight up to the nearest tree only a few leaves releasing rain upon impact.

Within 20 minutes she sat in a tree overlooking the Predator singleship. Only one? She thought. This one must be a truly idiotic fool to come to this xeno-infested planet that had already claimed the lives of 5 before him. An evil look danced in her eyes as she remembered the 4 that she had killed and consumed. Only one was killed by the actual xenomorphs it came to hunt. She had let them take that one away to be host flesh since she did not want to fight the entire hive over one meal, no matter how delicious. Though she preferred the xeno's spicy flavor (or burning acid to other less appreciative tongues) she did enjoy the heavy glowing flesh of the Predators. Dipping once again into her genetic knowledge she listened closely for perhaps any speech or language of these beings. Ah yes, there it was, the Yautja they were called. What an interesting clicking language—somewhat difficult with her given body but doable, and also understandable.

She followed and watched this _Yautja_ warrior dipping frequently into her memories until she fully understood the species as seen from whoever her Yautja "donors" were. Never before had she so frequently inquired about a species she considered as good as food, but so many times they had come even when they kept dying—it made her curious as to why. This apparently seasoned warrior sensed there was something amiss and she stood stock still as it scanned the area. Even though she was high in the canopy and her body gave off almost no heat when she went into "hunting mode", she still knew _these_ predators could be dangerous. It continued on getting visibly frustrated at the total lack of kainde-amedha on a supposedly overrun planet. Brushing back a tangled lock of now long hair, she knew that the reason there were no xenos was her presence. She decided to see how this one faired in a fight, and backed off a good distance from him. Slowly her eyes caught the movement of drones cautiously approaching from all directions. If kainde-amedha is what he wants, she laughed to her self, then kainde-amedha is what he gets.

In five minutes flat the warrior was already being overwhelmed from all sides, his plasma cannon shooting wildly in every direction. She debated whether she wanted another heavy meal after eating that xeno earlier and then with a jump down from the sky-brushing canopy, she raced forward. Who really could turn down a free meal that just walks onto your plate? Beating back some of the xenos trying to take him off and make host flesh of him, she grabbed him by his ankles and threw him over her shoulder. Incredibly insulted, not only from his idiocy of being overwhelmed by hard meat, but now being carried like a child over the shoulder of some mud covered thing the Yautja warrior roared his fury kicking and squirming. To his surprise no matter how hard he hit the thing carrying him it didn't even flinch, something made him think this wasn't a rescue.


	2. Upset Tummy!

Disclaimer: once again, I don't own any of the predator or alien, etc. except those characters I created.

**Chapter 2:**

Her stomach growled. She let out a long moan—that last Yautja she ate had given her massive indigestion. Most of the morning she had spent puking up chunks of florescent green covered flesh. Feeling her stomach convulse again she pitched her head forward as another shower of yautja flesh exploded out of her, she even coughed out a small chunk of it's dreadlocks. Making her groan even further she sat back down on the branch she had stopped on when her stomach had started these cursed spasms. Glaring at the sky she screamed, "**NEVER AGAIN!!**" only to double over in pain. Her grumbling could be heard by the xenos below who had come to investigate the smell of another species flesh. One looked from the stomach fluid covered predator flesh to her and back down again. A distinct hissing could be heard amongst the xenomorphs below. She screeched in fury scattering the ones below, they were _laughing_ at her! Positively fuming but unable to do anything about it she lay her head down hoping some sleep would help her body heal from whatever that damned yautja had poisoned her with, pouting all the while.

When she came to her stomach felt better, but she was still somewhat tender. Slowly sliding down the massive tree she ignored the pile of stinking flesh and walked toward the pool that she enjoyed so much. Sinking into its warm waters she cupped her hands and drunk deeply. The hot spring's waters were just what she needed to calm her stomach and her sore body. In its final moments the warrior had put up a worthy fight but he was in the end no match for her. She had after all a portion of Yautja DNA and as such just as much if not more strength and cunning than he. Rubbing her tangled "mane" of hair against each other to clean at least some of the mud she humpfed in exasperation as it began to rain again. Though she was used to these warm storms the mud that caked her body was not appealing to the vanity of her human side. Letting her hair free she dove under the water swimming deeper and deeper until she found what she was looking for. With her talons she dug out the softball-sized shellfish lodged into the wall. Wrenching it free she swam back up to the surface wadding to the edge of the pool. Cracking it upon the rocks a few times she pried-open the oyster-like thing open. Smiling to herself she reached in and pulled out the "pearl." Though it wasn't anything like an Earth pearl she could think of no better name. The size of a dollar coin, but with a hole in it, making it a hoop of blue-green beauty she quickly placed some of the dark sand from the hot spring in the "oyster", carefully closing it and diving back down to put it back where it came from. Returning to the surface she placed her elbows on the edge examining the pearl-hoop between her fingers. Bringing forth one of her tangled locks she wove it in, admiring its beauty. She had only around two-dozen or so in her hair as it took approximately a full year of this planet for the sand in oyster to become the pearl. Sighing, she thought back upon all the years she had spent here. Just when she thought it would be nice to sulk for a little while in her bath another ship raced across the sky again.

Irritated with an intrusion on her solitude yet again, as well as it being more Yautja, which gave her stomach another rumble of distaste, she pulled herself out of her warm bath. She was going to deal with these ones, in a way that she thought fitting. She knew they lived for the hunt, so it was only fitting that they be hunted. If for nothing else but to get them back for sending a warrior that didn't agree with her.

**Aboard the Yautja Ship...**

The Elder Ng'clar and two Blooded warriors had headed down to the planet the Clan Ship had been orbiting. After they received the signal that yet another Yautja had met his death. It was understood that this planet was overrun and as such anyone going down was only expected to go for a short time and return with as many trophies as was safe. Though the yautja of his clan knew that they had to keep their honor at even the cost of their own lives he also had instructed them to pick their battles and know that there was no shame in just hunting for a little while and returning back to the clan ship. This planet was overrun and as such there was more dishonor in dying at the hands of the great hive below because one sought to conquer the entire planet, than returning to the orbiting clan above. What was different this time however was that the one who had gone missing was one of the better Honored warriors of his clan. He would have sooner detonated his self-destruct than become host flesh, and if indeed he had been bested it bore need for an investigation. This planet may even have to be banned for solo hunts if it was so greatly overrun with kainde-amedha. Though he loved a challenge the Elder Ng'clar did not want anymore of his best Hunters going down to a planet more infested than previously thought—it would be naught but a deathtrap for anything but a large group of Hunters.

His ari'nii'ede swung around violently as he turned to one of the Blooded warriors that pointed down to the singleship below them. Still cloaked they scanned the area for hard meat activity. Screening out for any local life forms, they missed the anomaly not far from their vessel, sitting calmly in a high branch wondering what these new Yautja would do once they realized their buddy wasn't going to be coming home anytime soon...

She sat there just in the tree line thinking. She would stay far enough to these ones to make sure they didn't get too suspicious as the previous one had, but close enough that she could pick them off one by one, without worrying that the hive would overwhelm them. She would use their tactics, their methods, and even--once she claimed the first one's life—their weapons. For the first time in a very, _very_ long time she felt the rush that day when she touched the mud and soil as she ran to freedom, away from the terran complex of torture.

She would enjoy this, it had been a century since something this exciting had happened, and she wasn't about to let it pass her by.


	3. Yautjatartar anyone?

Disclaimer: I don't own predator or aliens, etc, etc,--I'm not writing this stupid disclaimer anymore, everyone here knows I don't own predator or alien, otherwise these would be plans for an upcoming comic I'd be rolling in dough and beautiful women would be impressed by my...um...success. Haha anyways, I seem to be having a writers' night so this will be progressing faster (it seems) than my previous fanfic. Once I get this one done though I believe the other one will flow better.

**Chapter 3:**

There was no sign of kainde-amedha attack on the ship its self, even free from infestation. At least Ng'clar's warrior had made it farther than the steps of his own ship. Neither he nor his accompanying hunters bothered with their cloaking devices, as they knew this planet experienced frequent rains—making any type of cloaking device pointless. Motioning for them to ready their plasma cannons for just about anything they continued with their reconnaissance mission. Just as he began to scan the forest ahead of him a flicker in his periphery caught his attention. It moved too fast and he couldn't see anything when he scanned the area better. Most likely it was one of the planet's native population. He ignored it and continued to scan the forest for his warrior and kainde-amedha.

Now motioning for his warriors to approach the forest Ng'clar along with the two Blooded warriors cautiously walked into the semi-darkness. Their masks told them that soon they would be beset by 6 kainde-amedha with more waiting for them in the forest. **_SHINK_** Wrist blades extended on one warrior, the second crouching readying his disk. Just as the Elder drew his spear the attack came swift and deadly. Backs to each other they fought off the first six xenos, the Elder taking down four with ease leaving one for each of the others. Expecting the rest of the hive to attack immediately they prepared themselves, yet to their surprise the drones backed off and disappeared into the mists of an approaching rain. Ng'clar had only seen this twice before in his long life. A hive had feigned retreat and the foolish younglings who pursued them were slaughtered. The second had been when the drones sensed that a large tidal wave was about to wipe out the area the battle was taking place in. Baring the extremely rare occurrence of a tidal wave in the middle of a continent covered in dense forest, that only left the possibility of a feigned retreat. Sinking his talons into the bark of the nearest tree he climbed higher and higher trying to gain a better assessment of the surrounding area and situation. His two warriors appeared by his sides, he could sense their anxiety; they were younger than he and had never seen kainde-amedha behave in such a way.

No doubt his warrior, though of the Honored class, had either played into their hands or had not survived an initial attack. Something was definitely amiss, too many things didn't add up. His warrior would have been overwhelmed and at least some sign of battle would have been close to the ship—indeed, the hard meat had attacked them barely ten steps into he forest. That left the impossibility that he had made it in farther by some miracle of Paya and then met the Black Warrior soon thereafter. The fact that his warrior was dead was not in question, the _timing_, however, is what made this whole Hunt _all wrong_.

**Nearby...**

She had just moved in time so as not to alert the hunters to her presence. Based on the distances she had used with the previous Yautja she gauged her presence so that she could see about 4 or 5 xenos begin to circle around them. They had banded together and killed the xenos. But what impressed her the most was the obvious leader with the staff weapon. Of the six that had attacked he had not only taken down four, but also done it with such ease that made her tongue click with interest and curiosity. Letting her sensitive nose sniff the breeze she could smell the leader's scent, her eyes widened. He was a male of an incredible age. Though she herself was around 150 cycles her age paled in comparison to this leader. She tore herself from her musings as she watched him climb with lightning speed to the upper canopy, trailed by his younger warriors.

She continued to watch her prey from a good distance and began to slowly close the gap between them. Once she had halved the distance she stopped and surveyed the forest as well. Good, she thought, xenomorphs giving me some space. Grinning evilly she thought to herself, _I never thought I'd help the Hive again after I broke out. It seems I'll do both of us a service_.

That day drones went about their business and did not interfere in the upper region far from the heart of the hive. They smelt intruders, good for food or host flesh, but they also smelt that weird drone and somehow knew that it would take care of the problem.


	4. Before the Lights Go Out

Author's Note: I noticed that since we got two groups going it could get confusing since I change perspectives, and as such, I've put a small row of dashes before and after a section that's seen from the perspective of the female.

**Chapter 4:**

Ng'clar 's suspicions were confirmed once he had reached the canopy, his mask picking up a slight movement. This time he knew that whatever it was it was not simply some "native". Unable to identify it by heat signature or species identification, he simply watched it close in on their position. However, when it got halfway it stopped. Though this puzzled him, it was an opportunity to let his mask throw a wider net of surveillance upon the creature and the forest. Trying to conceal his initial response of disbelief he watched as the kainde-amedha activity dropped to zero. Not only that but the hard meat were in fact, moving _away_ from them. Whatever was going on was condoned by the hive itself. That movement must have been some new kind of drone. 

His throat gave off a low rumble as he put two and two together. His warrior must have been singled out by this new drone and defeated. If anything the Honored warrior would have noticed the odd behavior of the kainde-amedha, but the anomaly tracking them? No, whatever it was, he would need to inform his two warriors—they would have no doubt overlooked this minute detail as well. If he had not survived the trials of over a thousand hunts he might have also fallen victim to this new hunter.

----------------------

She had read his body language, and saw the tiny fluctuations in his heat signature that he tried to hide. He knew somehow that she was watching them. She touched her tongue to the edge of her mouth, licking her lip, once again taking in the dia-shui of the Elder, a shiver passing down her spine. Maybe she would find out more about this old one who seemed to know this planet's hungry secret.

Perking up her ears she could hear that clicking language that previously were only memories being replayed by her DNA.

"_My warriors I know you noticed the scattering of the hard meat. But there is something else"_

---------------------

"--I believe it is a new kind of drone. It's tracking us, and I believe it is responsible for Rhe'tek's death." Ng'clar's whispered to them this new information unable to see the reactions that dotted their faces.

"Orumo, is it wise to stay here?" the Blooded warrior's back went rigid, "We have honor to stay and hunt with you, but it was you who taught us to pick our battles. Is it a wise choice to pick a battle with a creature that has defeated the best of us?" Ng'clar remained silent in thought as the other Blooded warrior continued.

"Forgive me Elder Ng'clar but if it were not for your presence even we would not have seen that creature, only the retreating hard meat. At the very least, maybe it would be best if we returned with a greater hunting party." Ng'clar's head snapped at that last remark.

"Do not think your ability to speak stretches so far, Mk'dei. I have already considered such an option." The Blooded warrior was put in his place but Ng'clar knew that the young one was right that such a plan would be prudent. However this creature had defeated a warrior of the Honored class, Paya only knew how many others. He would need to think of something, and soon, already the planet's first sun was setting. Soon it would be night and their very lives would be in the hands of this new enemy.


	5. Game's Start

Author's Note: I've put up a site so if u click 'homepage' on my profile u can see the pictures being drawn for this fanfic and The Greater Game. More pictures should be coming up just as soon as my friend can sketch them. Also considering that this is a story with ONE female and 3 males I figured that I don't need to separate the sections with dashes so I'll slowly faze out of it throughout this chapter. ï

**Chapter 5:**

She knew they had no tactics that could prepare them for an enemy they knew nothing about, no matter how resourceful they were. And if she truly wanted to use their methods and weapons against them she would first need to acquire the actual weapons. If the initial problem of the weapons was small then she at least had one notable setback. Something strange was happening to her, her blood was pumping in her body like fire, and her focus was becoming fuzzy. Seeing the giant blue sunset she knew that it was only about forty-five minutes until the second sun, a white dwarf, would also set. She would need to force them to make their move soon. She could see in the dark almost better than in the day, but when it truly went black she wanted them scared and second-guessing themselves all night long.

Letting out an irritated sigh she knew they would just sit tight if she didn't prod them forward. _Besides_, she smirked, _it's only fair I give them a running start_. Gripping the branch she was on with her claws she took in a deep breath and let out a bird-like roar.

Heads snapping in the direction of the roar, the Elder and his two warriors knew it was a challenge. Ng'clar had no choice but to go with his half-formulated plan. He would choose misdirection and baiting to lure this new beast out into the open. Digging his own claws into the wood he let out a bellow that echoed deep into the forest.

He tapped quickly onto his wrist computer, "Follow these coordinates. Kreil, point one. Mk'dei, point two." Half jumping, half climbing they split up and headed deep into the forests.

She cursed herself and her own arrogance. She had expected them to do the Yautja equivalent of a charge and now they had split up. If she followed one it could be a trap to surround her by the others. If she didn't follow then it could be a trap to distract and surround her if they doubled back. This was getting out of hand, screaming her irritation she was forced to follow all of them.

Straining his ears as hard as he could Mk'dei tried to listen for any movement after the second screech. Small beads of sweat dripped down his forehead as he continued to move as quickly as possible. He could not show any fear in front of his Clan Leader but now that he was all alone he let himself feel at least a brief pang of panic. He was nothing compared to the Honored Warrior that had already met his death, how was _he_ to survive this? Snapping back to the mission at hand he let his mask scan the area and his distance to the target. It would be no less than 2 minutes at his current pace, besides, he wasn't the bait—Kreil was. No hard-meat could out think the Yautja, this drone had probably just overpowered the previous warrior or the Honored class warrior had made some foolish mistake. Gaining back his confidence Mk'dei didn't notice the blip just outside his mask's range; nor did he notice it's incredible speed.

She had singled out the one that seemed to be slowing, looking around she was surprised to see they were unwittingly heading straight for "her" cave. High above the young Yautja she crouched upside down, claws deep in the bark, not making a single movement. He sat there waiting for the other Yautja to settle into their positions, as well as watching his own motion detectors. Kreil sat relatively in the open near a riverbank doing the same thing, while Ng'clar waited near a cave covering for the "drone" to accept the bait.

Seconds passed to minutes, almost an hour... and nothing happened. Ng'clar's mandibles twitched as he began to think that the drone wasn't going to accept the bait. In the minutes they all waited for Kreil to be attacked, as slowly, inch by inch, a shadow crept down from the treetop above Mk'dei.

In the quiet dying light of the white dwarf no one heard the gurgle and crunch of his neck snapping clean off, nor the soft thud as the shadow let his body slip to the ground. Letting her nose sniff the air she could smell the Elder and the young one upwind of where this one had been. As quickly as possible she skinned his body hoisting it along with the head, using twine from his own kit. Stripping him of disc and wrist blades she quickly returned to the treetops. _So..._ she thought, _you intended to bait and surround me?_ A wave of respect for the Old One washed through her as she realized that it was more luck than skill that she had picked this unlucky warrior to follow. The Elder's scent came from the area around her cave and the other young one sat not far from the riverbank near that very cave. Sniffing the air again she could sense that they knew something was wrong. She didn't understand why they didn't move when they knew something was wrong, dipping again into her memories she realized that silence was maintained so that no one's position was ever revealed. A move or sound made by a hunter would put everyone in jeopardy. She was tempted to roll her eyes in exasperation but then something made her smile. Here she is stringing up this Yautja and arming herself with their weapons. Didn't she want to play their way? She let out a small laugh, which grew louder and louder until it was a loud ring in the forest.

Ng'clar had hunted many species and he knew a laugh when he heard it. Worse it had come from the direction of Mk'dei. Signaling to Kreil they sprinted to his position. In the last rays of a white sunset swung the mangled body of Mk'dei. Ng'clar's chest tightened as Kreil stood stalk-still. This was no drone hunting them.

Nearby... 

Doubling back she watched contented as the Elder and the young warrior discovered her first trophy...


End file.
